Help - I'm "lexus-less" :(

[pb3]

Hi Folks,

I start work very early. Tried to get into my car (2001 GS 430 sport) this morning to discover to my horror that the doors would not unlock. I tried both key fobs with the same result - not a thing :(

As I had to get to work early I was forced to rush off and arrange alternate transport. I plan to have a further look this evening.

The only point to note leading up to this is that I collected the car yesterday morning from a bodyshop after having had a respray last week. The Battery had been disconnected (clock was wrong) in connection with removing the rear parking sensors.

Other than that it seemed OK yesterday and indeed I drove it to work, locked it, unlocked it in the evening, drove it home and locked it. Then this morning no joy :(

Could this be a flat Battery? I assume that if somehow the Battery ran flat overnight then the doors would unlock, but can anyone confirm or deny?

Assuming in the worst possible case that it means the dealer needs to come out to look at it, does Lexus offer such a service at cost?

Any suggestions as to what to try would be most appreciated. This feels somewhat surreal :)

Thanks

Peter

[Rich_Bee]

It happened on my 220 a few weeks ago, and all I could put it down to was interference. As you , locked OK-ish (struggled a bit) but when I went to the car later it wouldn't unlock.

When I called the Lexus Assist (RAC!) he put the van in front of the car and it unlocked fine, moved the van back and it wouldn't work again. By the morning it was all fine again.

Couldn't put it down to mobile operators (as I work for one and know what's happening where I live) so all I could think was possibly taxi/pirate radio/something else. The next day it was fine.

If you have room, unlock with the key (should be a piece to remove on the passenger door handle), put it in neutral and push the car away as far as you can (15ft should do). It'll probably work then as this is what a mechanic did to a friends car in MK when it refused to unlock, and charged her £80 for the privilege.

Good luck.

EDIT - Also, if you have the keyless entry like the IS, the key fob flashes red when you press the lock button on the door, this'll indicate Battery status.

[pb3]

Thanks for the reply Rich_Bee,

I'll try to unlock using the key when I return home. I didn't want to do this at 06:15 this morning as I'm sure I read that doing this sets off the alarm. The neighbours in my flat block certainly wouldn't have thanked me! :(

Thinking about it, I renewed my AA membership a few months ago and added home start to my options. I may well be able to put this to good use tomorrow if my problems persist. I'll have to persuade the AA bod to tow it to the local Lexus garage.

Not a nice thing to happen on one's birthday :(

Peter

[pb3]

Just an update.

The AA came out yesterday morning and diagnosed a flat Battery. Everything worked after he did a jump start but the engine turnover was quite slow, he then ran a Battery test which indicated that the Battery was faulty.

Given that I had last locked it remotely, the car was operating as per normal when the Battery ran flat, and yes the alarm did go off when I opened the door with the key.

Not sure why the Battery ran flat so suddenly. The AA engineer could not detect any obvious power drain, and I'd definitely not left the lights or anything esle on.

I've now purchased a new batery, however for the moment I'm locking the door using the key rather than remotely, just in case there is a Battery drain issue somewhere :)

Thanks for all replies and BTW, it is definitely worth it to pay the extra for Home Start option to the standard breakdown cover.

PB